Bah. Faceplate stuck on spindle.

[slaphitter]

Anyone have any magic tricks to remove a faceplate that's torqued tight onto a spindle? I'm off to the hardware store in the AM for the proper size boxwrench (1-1/4) to fit the notch on my faceplate. I also figure I'll pick up a couple of strap wrenches - might come in handy.

Other than the obvious need to clean and oil the threads better, I also found a great tip to put a large rubber wacher (like a hose washer) on the spindle before mounting the faceplate - no more seizing. Anyone have other tips to prevent seizing?

[Tom Hintz]

See the link below for a story on removing chucks.
One thing discussed is clamping a piece of wood across the jaws to increase leverage. Pictures in the story make this easier to understand.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/turning...lathechuk.html

[Limey]

You can purchase plastic washers to suit your spindle size if you are so inclined...or you can do what I do cut a hole in the center of a plastic lid from a coffee can..easy peasy and I can promise you that you'll never have a chuck or faceplate seize up ever again.
By the way it will not allow the fixture to unscrew in use..It is the perfect solution to your problem..greasing the threads won't help, you need to reduce the friction where the two faces meet.

[WoodMangler]

I have always wondered....

..... why the manufacturers don't supply a washer with either the lathe or the face plate...

It aint like they don't know this will happen eh....

Or do they?... wasn't one with my lathe

[TDHofstetter]

If it's still stuck, there's an easy way out.

Screw a longish hunk of scrap wood to the faceplate, crosswise, near one end. Now you have a lever, right? It should be so long it won't rotate past the bed.

Rotate it by hand till it touches the front side of the bed - nearest you. Take any belts off (if that's not too much of a problem)... 'cause it makes this next step easier.

Now grab your handwheel if you have one - or just grab the lever itself if you don't have one - and turn the faceplate / lever backwards as fast as you can... until it smacks the backside of the bed.

The inertia of the spindle should try & keep IT going while the faceplate suddenly stops... breaking the faceplate threads loose.

If that doesn't work, grab up a big nasty heavy mallet. Turn the lever to some reasonable position & smack it backwards (downward if it's pointing straight at you, or toward you if it's pointing straight up) as hard as you can without hurting yourself.

DO be sure to back off any setscrews your faceplate might have first, hmmm? :) :) :)

-- Tim --

If it ain't broke,
Don't fixate.
:)

[Cody Colston]

I keep a 14" pipe wrench handy but I'll try that plastic washer trick now. :)

Cody

Learn from the mistakes of others.
You won't live long enough to make them all yourself.

[rhull]

Yep - somebody told me that trick before I ever even got a lathe. I picked up a couple vinyl washers at my local hardware store. I've never had a faceplate stuck on the lathe using them.

[slaphitter]

Thanks all. Two strapwrenches did the trick. One on the faceplate and one on the handwheel (no spindle lock of my little midi lathe).

I am going to cut up a coffee can lid, pronto!

[Nasty George]

TDHofstetter: This is a simple, elegant and cheap solution. It works! Thank you very much for posting it. You saved me a lot of time and possibly prevented me from destroying my lathe by not being gentle. At 6'-2 and over 300 lbs, I have trouble being gentle.